A Poem On Sleep

This poem is a specific type of structured poetry known as an extended garland cinquain. The poem consists of 9 stanzas of five lines in a precisely alternating rhyme scheme (ABCCB). The poem laments the problems of life and the allure of death in favour of merely sleeping, a premise that Ezra Jennings is all too familiar with and discusses in his narrative. The idea of sleep is a theme of importance in the narrative of Ezra Jennings, often discussing the effects of the opium on his sleep "My night, thanks to the opium, was the night of a man stunned" (Collins, pp 405) and the sleep of his patient Franklin Blake, in association to prepping for the experiment.

Thematically Ezra Jennings finds himself yearning for a nights rest, often detailing the frightful dreams he has "[... ]sharp pains to the frightful dream. But, the physical suffering exhausts me" (Collins, pp 397). The poem has a similarly haunting effect, as it depicts death as a parallel to sleep, "For I shall lie as dead" (Line 6) and "why should I fall asleep" (line 16). Harper Weekly's choice to publish this poem directly in context with the narrative of Ezra Jennings reflects on the ideas of numbing and normalizing, it "[...] disturbs the ideas of articulation, the ordering of abnormal and normal" (Mossman, pp 486). The repetition of ideas surrounding death and pain and the longing for escape from the suffering is beginning to appear traditional in context with the moonstone.

Works Cited: 

Mossman, Mark. “REPRESENTATIONS OF THE ABNORMAL BODY IN THE MOONSTONE.” Victorian Literature and Culture, vol. 37, no. 2, 2009, pp. 483–500.

Harper’s Weekly: A Journal of Civilization. July 18th 1868. Pp 430-464

Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone, edited by John Sutherland, Oxford University Press, 2008.